What others say

America isolated

When Vladimir Putin ordered his hackers to surreptitiously help Donald Trump in the presidential race, he could hardly have anticipated that once in office, Trump would so outrageously, destructively and thoroughly alienate America’s closest neighbors and allies as he did at the Group of 7 meeting in Canada.So writes the Editorial commentator of The New York Times. The lame explanation from Mr. Trump’s courtiers, that he needed to look tough for his meeting with Kim Jong-un, made matters worse by implying that he felt he needed to publicly kick friends aside to impress a murderous dictator.
Nations represented at the meeting — and especially Canada, whose prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was personally insulted in a way defying basic social norms — reacted with horror and dismay. International diplomacy cannot be conducted by “fits of anger” said President Emmanuel Macron of France, who Mr. Trump only recently embraced in Washington
Indeed, the Group of 7 was just the kind of forum a bully like Mr. Trump cannot abide, not out of geopolitical considerations, but because he cannot dominate and preen. He knew he would be on the defensive — over backing out of the Paris environment accord and the Iran nuclear deal, and now over the tariffs he slapped on European and Canadian steel and aluminum — so he made a point of being late, acting petulant, leaving early and lashing out at Trudeau.
Trump faced the other leaders with arms defiantly crossed and face locked in a pout. It was a confirmation that so long as Mr. Trump is in the White House, and maybe beyond that, something fundamental in the community of Western democracies will be missing. America, the leader of the free world and the architect of so much of the modern world order, had decided to go its own way.For the six other Group of 7 nations, this must be a time of resolve and unity. For Americans, it’s past time to recognize that this president has transformed “America First” into “America Alone,” and that this is the last place a great and powerful nation wants to be.
—The New York Times